Contest--Day 3

A good day for me, I think. Maybe a little high on the calories (although I suspect that I overestimated my dinner). B~english muffin, ff cream cheese L~chicken wrap (this consists of a low-carb wrap, 2 oz chicken, 1/2 slice ff cheddar, lettuce, and a tsp. of sweet relish), ff cottage cheese, grapes D~Chicken Helper chicken fried rice (less chicken, added extra peas and broccoli, used no oil) S~trail mix granola bar, wrap with chicken, a small piece of fudge Exercise: Took my daughter and dog for a walk...wound up halfway across town without realizing it. Had to walk back. Tired! Okay, so I never should have touched that piece of fudge, for more reasons than one! My poor insides were seized with pain! I counted it as 150 calories, and my dinner as 500 calories, neither of which I think is completely accurate. I have my calorie totals at 1440. I really need to work on knocking those calories down...gotta stop snacking! Protein looks pretty good, although I don't generally count it. Breakfast has a predictable 11 g. I'm not sure what the chicken counts as, but I know the wrap and cottage cheese come to 21 g. So that's 32, not including my snacks and dinner OR the chicken at lunch. I normally don't worry about protein because I've usually reached over 30 g by lunch. And so I'm rambling... On another note, got in touch with a fertility doctor today. Because my husband has a bone disease, genetically we shouldn't have children together...but now we have another plan of action, and the ball is finally rolling on that. Ok...I've typed more than enough for today! Pamela

I would say you should really try to shoot for WAY more protein and way less carbs. The really bad thing about the carbs is that they cause your body to pump out more insulin, and insulin is the fat storage hormone. So it will make it more difficult to lose fat. Since you feel you need some - try to severely limit your intake to the breakfast and lunch items. I remember in my old dieting days with weigh****chers - I got my BEST weight loss by limiting myself to no more than 2 servings of bread - or the starch/complex carb equivalents. Try to aim for 2 or less and see if it makes a difference. While it may give you satisfaction to eat the same thing for lunch and breakfast, it might also make you more easily able to "forget" that you've taken in those calories and carbs. I dunno - just some thoughts. Good going on the fertility doc! I'll send my bestest vibes your way! I hope we'll be hearing about a "blessed event" (as my mom says) really soon... Irene

The muffin has 22 carbs and 5 fiber, the wrap has 11 carbs and 8 fiber. I THOUGHT that fiber helped knock out the "bad" part of the carbs. Not that I really ever paid attention to carbs, since my nutritionist said not to. What other sorts of food can I make that will be satisfying, if I should try ditching the pasta, rice, and potatoes? I can't eat "just chicken," because I'll still be hungry, and I have a husband and kid to feed. I guess I'm sort of at a loss when it comes to the carbs thing. There is so much information out there, it's so hard to choose a path! Thanks!

Yes, it is hard to choose a path. I have noticed that there are MANY professionals that are really pushing and convinced that the answer is the high carb diet. But - I have noticed that I have the best result with trying to eat primarily meat (or proteins), fats and veggies, occassionally a little bit of fruit, and seldom ever any breads, rice, etc. I actually only ever experience hunger and cravings when I eat carbs such as breads, crackers, cookies, cakes, candy, etc. My dad became diabetic (adult onset) and I remember that eating even the tiniest box of prepackaged cornflakes (remember the single serving box that became a bowl?) would cause his blood sugar to skyrocket. The heart surgeon that operated on him told him to NEVER use more than x units of insulin - because it would cause him to put on weight like crazy. Unfortunately he never made the carb connection and had to use lots of insulin to control the blood sugars. Guess what- he got HUGE at one point. All the while the doctors (not the heart surgeon) were telling him that it was IMPOSSIBLE that a tiny box of cornflakes could do that to his blood sugar - that he MUST be cheating. There really is a strong connection between the amount of carbs a person eats and the effect on insulin levels and weight. That's the whole idea behind the glycemic index diet. Consuming foods that don't effect blood sugars as drastically, keeping insulin levels down, letting you lose weight. If you can't eliminate, reduce - perhaps a starting place might be to research the glycemic index diet, or south beach diet. You can begin with simple choices - brown rice instead of white, sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes and so on. Irene

Pamela, I have been reading your posts for the past few days. I concur with Irene's analogy of cutting back on the carbs. I am a carb-o-holic, the more I eat the more I want. I have the same reation to fruit. When you reach for a snack grab some SF Jello (this will help lower your calorie intake) or a serving of almonds (extra protien and crunch). Positive thoughts coming your way for all aspects of your life. Mary

Hi Pam Good luck with your contest-- I LOVE contests! I'm way too competitive for my own good sometimes, but I love it. I'm not a role model for food intake by any means, so I won't comment on your diet. But I wanted to remind and encourage you to exercise. Spring time is a great time to reconnect with the out doors. Go for a walk with your daughter. The air will feel good in your lungs. Your muscles will ache in a good way. You'll feel "alive". Just do it!--the hardest part of exercising for me is putting my shoes on (really!). Sorry about the infertility news. Hubby and I went through all of that. In a nutshell, he had zero sperm so we used sperm donors. I was not able to get pregnant unfortunately even with stud sperm and a truck load of hormones. I have severe endometriosis, too. We ended up adopting our little boy in January. I tell everyone I couldn't have gotten a better baby even if we made him ourselves. Actually, I'm kind of thankful I didn't pass on my big feet and other poor genetics. Good luck with what you have chosen, and I wish you success in completing your family. Deeno